Georgia District Boosts Front Entrance Security

“Our parents and our community trust us with 3,000 students every day, and with those students, we are there to educate them, but at the same time, our students and our staff - the number one priority is to keep them safe,” said Barry Waller, Superintendent of Toombs County Schools.

By Jessica Davis

March 08, 2019

Toombs County Schools are adding more security features to their campuses this week, including cameras and a buzzer system at the front entrances.

Visitors to Toombs County campuses will now be greeted at the front door by a camera and a button they can hit to buzz the office staff. Once the visitor presses the button, their image shows up on a screen inside of the office so staff can see who is trying to enter the campus and speak with them directly.

“Our parents and our community trust us with 3,000 students every day, and with those students, we are there to educate them, but at the same time, our students and our staff - the number one priority is to keep them safe,” said Barry Waller, Superintendent of Toombs County Schools.

According to Waller, safety wasn’t a top priority when the school buildings were originally built. Now, the district is using safety grants to add new technology to secure campuses.

“By having this in place, it gives us another layer of security by being able to stop visitors at the door and inquire about why they are here and being able to verify their identity and things such as that,” said Dr. Renee Garbutt of Toombs County Middle School.

Except for the high school, each Toombs County School has been updated with the new features. According to Waller, the high school was built four years ago with safety features already in place.

Waller said that the schools are also adding security walls to the front lobbies of campuses to keep visitors in the office area until allowed further into the building.

“We all know kids can’t focus on their academics if they don’t feel safe, so we want to make sure that went a kid enters this building, they have nothing to worry about, so they know we are doing everything we can to protect them,” said Tabatha Nobles, Principal of Lyons Upper Elementary School.